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Tricky has recruited heavyweight Italian producer and fellow !K7 artist DJ Tennis to remix ‘Running Wild feat. Mina Rose’, the third single to be taken from his universally acclaimed 13th studio album, ‘Ununiform’. Drawing on more than two decades of experience, DJ Tennis AKA Manfredi Romano has built up his reputation as an eclectic DJ and versatile producer.

The Life and Death label head twists Tricky’s hypnotic original with haunting electronics and brooding synths for an absorbing reinterpretation that is certain to entertain fans of Tricky and DJ Tennis alike.

Inspired by the emotive elements of the original, electro duo LA Riots infused their own adept house artistry to bring the single to newer heights. Keeping all the essential heart-rendering tonalities of the track, the pair turn ‘Running Wild’ into a sizable, four-on-the-floor thriller, enlivened by a fusion of deep drum patterns, full-bodied synths, and skillfully placed vocal chops.

‘Ununiform’ is the first album made since Tricky moved to Berlin, three years ago. While many people move to the clubbing capital of Europe to party, this was a clean break in every sense of the word. “I like it here because I don’t know anybody. I eat good food, I go for walks, I’ve got a bike. I’m trying to look after myself. I don’t drink here. Some people call it boring, but I wake at 9am and I’m asleep by 11 o’clock at night. I’m looking after myself.”

Tricky also credits much of the freedom of ‘Ununiform’ to something more grounded: “This album now is the first album I’ve made (in years) which isn’t going to pay off some kind of debt. So it’s more relaxed!” Referring to his previous albums, False Idols, Adrian Thaws, and the Skilled Mechanics project, he says “I was doing these records thinking ‘the quicker I do this album, the quicker I pay off the tax people.’ So ‘Ununiform’ has been very chilled out. Now, I own the label, I pay for everything myself. I’m a truly independent artist. Now I do what I want. Freedom is a beautiful thing.”

Tricky will also be touring throughout the last two months of 2017 and will be hitting the following dates:

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Tricky has today released an EP of remixes encompassing the first two singles from his forthcoming album, ununiform. Standout tracks ‘The Only Way’ and ‘When We Die (feat. Martina Topley-Bird)’ receive reworks from Kahn, FaltyDL and The Heatwave respectively. Available everywhere digitally, the remixes can be heard below.

The producers have also taken the time to share their own thoughts on Tricky’s lasting influence upon their own material and more widely on the last two decades of British music.

FaltyDL is first out the blocks with a catchy as hell remix of ‘When We Die (feat. Martina Topley-Bird)’ – the recent single which so excited long-standing Tricky & Martina fans upon its release last month.

He commented:

“I used to work in a restaurant cleaning dishes many years ago. They had an old fashioned jukebox but it was filled with CD’s. A copy of Maxinquaye was in the machine and I would sneak out of the kitchen and load it up then dive back into my work. I must have worn that CD out, it was a daily thing for a while. I grew some attachment to the music and have been listening to Tricky ever since. There’s a certain combination between the tone of his voice and the production that always hit a nerve pretty deeply with me, it’s amazing.”

As CRACK magazine wrote in premiering Kahn’s sultry edit of ‘The Only Way’:

“Tricky stan and Bandulu Records label head Kahn has gained a reputation for cutting experimental grime dubs that are shot with a dose of the same dark, negative space that artists like Tricky helped to innovate. For this spacious remix, the Bristol producer has reworked Tricky’s trademark whispered vocals to drift into the haze of rumbling drums..”

Kahn himself adds:

“It’s hard to know where to begin in expressing how much of an influence Tricky’s music has been on me, not just as a musician but in my life generally. It’s music that’s been with me since I was a child; listening to his albums over and over again at school on my CD walkman, memorising lyrics and immersing myself in the unique atmosphere of his work and collaborations. It was an essential pillar of my musical education growing up in Bristol and remains some of the most important music and poetry to me personally. Certain songs of his are so entwined to specific memories and periods in my life, it’s like the music’s just a part of my identity.

So with that said, naturally I was honored to be asked to remix some of Tricky’s new work. In truth it was initially a bit daunting working with someone who’s been such a crucial creative influence, but the whole experience has meant a great deal to me and I hope we can work together again at some point in the future.”

Finally – rising bashment producers The Heatwave were tasked by Tricky (ever with his ear to the ground) to work their magic on ‘When We Die’ just in time for the last summer rays.

“It’s a big deal for me getting the chance to remix a Tricky tune. His music had a big impact on me as a teenager and he’s a brilliant example of a groundbreaking, genre-defying, Jamaican-influenced British MC. Before grime, garage and almost even UK hip hop, you had Massive Attack and Tricky weaving words, booming out basslines and melting minds and moods. Their Wild Bunch crew was an inspiration for what The Heatwave has become as a UK soundsystem.”

Tricky’s 13th album, ununiform, is a delicate, storming, intricate album that sees Tricky take perhaps his most radical step yet – a journey into happiness and contentment. It’s a record that shows the legendary British producer confront his legacy, history, family – even death itself. And in all of this, he finds the strangest, least familiar thing – peace.

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Tricky returns with his 13th album, ununiform. It’s a delicate, storming, intricate album that sees Tricky take perhaps his most radical step yet – a journey into happiness and contentment. It’s a record that shows the legendary British producer confront his legacy, history, family – even death itself. And in all of this, he finds the strangest, least familiar thing – peace. Ununiform was conceived in Moscow and completed in Berlin, where Tricky has been living for the past three years – not lavishly, but instead leading a clean, reflective and positive life: “I don’t know anybody. I eat good food. I go for walks”.

Testament to Tricky’s dynamism, ununiform sees him further work with new, up and coming singers as well as collaborators of the past. ‘When We Die’, premiering today via http://www.trickysite.com, features Martina Topley-Bird, who first made an appearance on Tricky’s debut 1995 album, Maxinquaye – released a month before the pair’s daughter was born. They haven’t collaborated on one another’s output in almost fifteen years.

Eerie, haunting yet enveloped by a sense of peace and acceptance, ‘When We Die’ sees Tricky take hold of a new zest for life he has come to possess: “If you don’t accept death you don’t really accept life” says Tricky.

Highlighting Tricky’s typical genre-expansive sound, ununiform features a string of collaborators old and new. These include some of Russia’s most famous rappers such as Scriptonite, who features on ‘Blood Of My Blood’ & ‘Same As It Ever Was’, plus Vasily Vakulenko (Basta) who helped produce single standout ‘The Only Way’, and Smokey Mo also makes an appearance on ‘Bang Boogie’. Tricky confesses of a 20 year long love affair with Russian hip-hop, to which he has paid homage through recording these tracks in Moscow.

Ununiform also sees Tricky rekindle working relationships with the likes of Francesca Belmonte and Asia Argento, and flip expectations further with a cover of Hole’s 1994 single ‘Doll Parts’ performed by another bright emerging talent, Avalon Lurks. Meanwhile album highlight Running Wild features vocals from Mina Rose, who will also be joining Tricky’s touring party this year.

Interestingly, the effect of his new-found outlook, freedom and lifestyle has led to Tricky turning back to his classic sound – perhaps the final frontier for such an inveterate experimentalist. “I’ve got nothing to prove now, and I’m comfortable with referencing myself.” Indeed, he’s since described last month’s single ‘The Only Way’ as “Hell is Round The Corner, Part 2”. This sensation is perhaps a response to a wave of artists referencing Tricky’s ‘90s records and his approach, from The xx to boundary-pushing London rappers Gaika and CASisDEAD, the latter of which Tricky recently collaborated with. “I’ve got a really wide audience. So I’ve got nothing to prove. I feel like sometimes it’s OK to do it again.”

The first album that Tricky has released as a truly independent artist free from the pressure of debt and destruction, ununiform is a glorious, beautiful and intensely personal attempt to answer the simple question “What does Tricky sound like?”
Tracklist:

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Tricky unveils brand new material in the form of “The Only Way”, an orchestrated soul-barer with more than a nod to his Maxinquaye era and featuring his own trademark vocals taking centre-stage over a smoke-filled melodic backdrop.

Recorded in Moscow late last year and described by Tricky himself as “Hell Is Round The Corner Part 2”, “The Only Way” is a beautifully rare glimpse into the now Berlin based Tricky’s future, releasing via his own label imprint False Idols (via !K7 Music) on June 9th.

“A few years ago I’d have said I ain’t doing this because it sounds like me,” he says. “I always had a punk rock attitude: I don’t give a fuck if you like Maxinquaye, I ain’t doing another Maxinquaye. Now I’m a bit more comfortable giving people what they want sometimes.”

“The Only Way” will be released via False Idols (via !K7) on June 9th.

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The ‘OBIA EP’ is Tricky’s latest release, out via his own False Idols imprint on Sept 30th. The seven track collection showcases works by established and young emerging artists including CASISDEAD, Kiko King & creativemaze, WOODJU, Syava and Euanwhosarmy Feat. Lyndsey Lupe.

All the artists featured have been specially chosen by Tricky with the main purpose to provide a platform for them to be heard, where – in contrast to most UK and US labels – music does not have to be in English language.

It includes a powerful collection of tracks one that stretches from soulful electronic and hip hop sounds of Russia’s underground to the grooves of Berlin’s young talent, including artists discovered by Tricky on his travels and touring around the globe.

The EP is framed by two tracks by WOODJU, opening with ‘Damballah’ and closing with ‘Irradiant’. Both him and Syava, who contributes the track “Nenaviju Izmenu”, are Russian artists that struck up a strong relationship with Tricky, once again on his travels and have now been provided with a platform to shine.

Next up, Tricky provides Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja (a/k/a 3D) an opportunity to showcase a new track entitled ‘For Nothing’, produced by Del Naja and Euan Dickinson under the name Euanwhosarmy and featuring the vocals of Lynsey Lupe. The pair’s current creative bond should come as no surprise, as Tricky recently returned to perform alongside the Bristol band this summer to much media attention.

Los Angeles- and Berlin born Kiko King & creativemaze who now both reside in Berlin and have supported Tricky on German dates, add two tracks, “Tin Man” and “Wolves”.

‘Does It’ is a new take of a track that originally appeared on Tricky’s ‘False Idols’ album in 2013. This version features new verses from one of UK rap’s most elusive and enigmatic figures CASISDEAD who delivers his trademark distinctly British and macabre delivery with snatches of story bound lyrics that are socially poignant.

There’s a clear organic and unforced feel to the OBIA EP with the contributors granted license to grow with a native wild approach. We see Tricky taking a visible supporting role to artists that he wants to see flourish.

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Massive Attack return with the ‘Ritual Spirit’ EP. Released today (Thursday 28th January) via Virgin/EMI, the EP features the return of Tricky (on ‘Take It There’) in addition to collaborations with Young Fathers (‘Voodoo In My Blood’), Roots Manuva (‘Dead Editors’) and newcomer Azekel (‘Ritual Spirit’).

The EP was written and produced by Massive Attack’s Robert del Naja and long-term studio collaborator Euan Dickinson. A second Massive Attack EP, written and co-produced by Daddy G, will be released in the spring, with an album to follow later in the year.

To mark the EP release, Massive Attack have today premiered a brand new video for ‘Take It There’. Directed by Hiro Murai and starring Oscar-nominated actor John Hawkes, the ‘Take It There’ video is available to view here:

The release of the ‘Ritual Spirit’ EP follows the launch of Massive Attack’s ‘Fantom’ app last week.

Meanwhile, Massive are currently touring the UK and Europe. The new live show is designed by Robert del Naja and long time visual collaborators United Visual Artists, with support coming from Young Fathers.

After moving to Berlin early this Spring, he immediately started work on a new musical project called Skilled Mechanics. In his trademark husky West Country burr, the Bristol born musician, producer and rapper explains where the name came from: “It’s from a documentary about espionage. There was an ex-C.I.A. agent on this programme speaking about assassins who were sent abroad by the US to start revolutions and topple governments. He called them ‘skilled mechanics’. I thought that was a great name for someone who was a killer basically. The name was so dark and cynical it just stuck with me.”

Luckily for us, the only ‘killing’ Tricky is doing this year is in the studio and on the mic with Skilled Mechanics’ self-titled debut which is coming out on his own record label False Idols. For most musicians, stopping working as a solo artist and forming a band is a sign that they’re sick of the spotlight but in typically perverse fashion, perhaps the opposite is true for Tricky. He explains that some people have been voicing their frustration with him for his habit of often playing second fiddle to his various female co-singers: “People have been asking me for years, ‘Will you ever take charge vocally? Will you ever lead as the singer on one of your albums?’ On Adrian Thaws, my last album, I came to the forefront vocally. I was more in your face on three of the tracks but I wanted to build even further towards a catalogue of songs where I didn’t rely on a girl singer. But I realised it would be hard to do under the name Tricky because people would always associate that name with me using a female singer.

“I haven’t been alone at the front of the stage on my own since before I released my first album Maxinquaye 20 years ago. I needed to change. It is good to change and to keep on pushing yourself.”

So he formed Skilled Mechanics a loose collaborative project that would allow him to work with many different artists, while at the same time pushing his unique vocal talents to the forefront. The most prominent of these collaborators on the new record is DJ Milo, who is not only one of his oldest friends but also the first person he ever recorded with not to mention his introduction to The Wild Bunch.

Talking about the seminal Bristol sound system crew who were pivotal in launching the careers of Massive Attack and Soul II Soul founder Nellee Hooper, Tricky says : “When I was eight years old, I lived with my aunt and Milo did as well. She was like a stepmother to him. He was about 16 and already putting on parties with The Wild Bunch. They would be playing at St Paul’s Festival in Bristol and he’d get me to come down and appear on the mic. It wasn’t battle rapping or cussing people’s mothers. It was just about who had the best rhymes, the best flow and the best lyrics.”

“I used to practice with Milo round at Daddy G from Massive Attack’s house. I can remember we did a cassette. This was the first time I ever released music and this tape went all around Bristol. He would be cutting up a break and I’d rap over it. But me and him went very well together. There was a little bit of magic about it. That night after the St Paul’s Festival, we had a party at G’s house and it was just me on the mic and Milo on the decks and it was only about 20 or 30 people in the house. At first you could have heard a pin drop but then they just went mad. And then I realised, maybe, that this was for me.”

The pair have worked on the odd white label or underground track since but this is the first major project they’ve undertaken together. Tricky says: “Milo is on five of the tracks. Some of the tracks I did with him sound like old school hip hop but not dated – very modern. We talked about it for many years but before now the timing wasn’t right.”

Another major player on the album is Luke Harris, Tricky’s regular drummer but his presence was almost accidental: “We were on tour recently and the band were soundchecking while I was in the dressing room. I could hear the vocals loud and clear but then my regular singer, Francesca Belmonte walked past the dressing room. I thought, ‘What the fuck?’ So I went out to have a look and there was my drummer filling in for her on vocals because she needed the bathroom. There and then I said to him, ‘Do you know what? On my next project you’re going to be my vocalist…’”

One of the tracks that Luke sings on is an unlikely cover of ‘Bother’ by Corey Taylor – who is better known as front man of the heavy rock band Stone Sour and a member of horror masked nu-metal act Slipknot. Tricky laughs: “I imagine people will be surprised at this. But when Luke and I went into the studio I knew he could sing but I didn’t know what kind of voice he had. I had to know so I could write for it in the future. So I said we should cover a song he really loved. And he said that when he was really young he used to listen to this song all the time, on his headphones. So we covered it because he was obsessed by it.”

The album contains another cover version, ‘Diving Away’, which is a version of ‘Porpoise Head’ by Porno For Pyros. Tricky explains: “I toured with them in Australia in 1996. My daughter Mazy, who was about four years of age, was with us and she had frontman Perry Farrell wrapped round her little finger. He took all of us to Sealand in Australia. So there was me and Porno For Pyros all trying to get her pram onto the Australian metro. But how many big artists would do something beautiful like that? I think it speaks volumes about him. So I’ve got a lot of love for Perry Farrell and I’ve always wanted to cover one of his songs.”

As well as guest appearances from firey Chinese rapper Ivy 艾菲; London based singer Renata Platon and Danish singer songwriter Oh Land, the album also contains the vocal talents of Tricky’s current creative foil, Francesca Belmonte, on the track ‘We Begin’.

Tricky has also found time to write his most personal, confessional song to date, the future single ‘Boy’. He explains: “All the problems I have now are because of my childhood. I went to Bristol at Christmas time a couple of years ago and I ended up having an asthma attack. My eldest daughter drove down to the hospital to collect me and I said, ‘I think it’s because I’ve eaten something.’ And she said, ‘No it’s not. You’re remembering stuff. It’s because you’ve come back to Bristol, you’re being reminded of stuff.’ It’s obvious really. Most of my problems stem from when I was a kid.”

“The first time I remember seeing my mum was in an open, glass topped coffin in my grandmother’s house. I was about four years of age and she was in the room opposite mine. I found my dad in the phone book when I was 12 years of age. For some reason I used to sit in my auntie’s house and go through the phone book. This says to me that I was looking for an identity. Looking for myself. I found someone who had the same last name as me and my aunt said, ‘That’s your dad. Why don’t you give him a call?’ I used to go and see him and he would literally forget my name. It’s almost like I could have written this track 20 years ago but it was something that had to come out eventually, I had to put it down. But everything on that track is true. Every word on Boy is actual fact.”

Skilled Mechanics is the statement of a true original British talent – one who will never coast on his former achievements and will always keep on changing and adapting to face the future.

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Following two solo albums on his own False Idols imprint, Tricky announces a new collaborative project, Skilled Mechanics with a limited edition 7″ single.

The enigmatic voice on the single’s A-side, “Beijing To Berlin,” belongs to the Chinese rapper and producer Ivy 艾菲.

Tricky explains: “I was in Beijing for a show and I met this guy who managed her. She’s so different! So raw! The strange thing is, I’ve had the track for a while but I only just found out that she’s not rapping in Chinese. I ain’t got a clue what language it is. I have no idea. It might be completely made up but whatever it is, it sounds wicked. I’m lucky that with my label, False Idols, I don’t need to worry about things like this. I’m never going to have an A&R guy saying to me, ‘We don’t understand what she’s saying.’ Because we don’t need the support of commercial radio. It was my real good luck meeting her and she’s definitely going to be on the next Skilled Mechanics album as well.”

The result of the collaboration with Ivy, “Beijing To Berlin,” is released today (16th October) as a limited edition 7”, and digital single.

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Having collaborated as lead vocalist with Tricky on his last several LPs, London vocalist Francesca Belmonte steps into the spotlight with the release of her debut solo albumAnima this week on False Idols. The album features production from Tricky on all tracks.

Anima is available now via the Tricky Webshop, as well asiTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and just about everywhere else. Watch the beautifully-shot video for “Are You” below.

“Of all the artists I’ve ever worked with this is the best collaboration, as soon as people hear this album they’ll understand why I say this.” –Tricky

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The ‘Actress Tes Remix’ of Tricky’s ‘Sun Down‘ featuring Tirzah is now online. The new version is an eerie and off-kilter interpretation featuring rattling hi-hats and bells of doom that fans of the London based producer will relish.

‘Sun Down’, the latest single from Tricky’s recent Adrian Thaws album, is a dark, seductive tale featuring hotly tipped London singer Tirzah, who impressed with the Greco-Roman released quirky electronica of ‘No Romance’. Tirzah was introduced to Tricky by his daughter Mazy; “She called me and said dad will you work with Tirzah. That’s my daughter A&Ring me, which is cool as fuck.”